Wire-spring construction.



F. T. BARBER.

WIRE SPRING CONSTRUCTION. I

APPLICATION FILED MAR.9. 1914.

1,120,887. Patented Dec. 1.5, 1914,

Fig.1

INVEIVTUR Frederick T Barber.

.4 TTORNE Y HE NORRIS PEFERS 60.. PHOTOLATHO WASHNQ raw. D c

w /M I FREDERICK '1'. ,R RRER, or ANDERSON, 'INDIA'NA.

wIR -srR NG CONSTRUCTION. I

j Specification. of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 9, 19 14. seriaino. 323,553.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FREDERICK T. BARBER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Anderson, county of Madison, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful WVire-Spring Construction;-

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like lettersv refer to like parts. i Theobject of this invention is to 1mprove wire spring constructions such as used in bed springs, car seats, chair seats and in tofore such wire spring structures have usually been formed of round rods or wires upon which the covering or upholsterlng rests and" wh erebyfit was eventually worn and abraded or cut. 7 Furthermore it has been sometimes difficult to assemble and unite the parts of such wire spring construction. Also such constructions sometimes make a noise .when'compressed on account of the vibration of parts. This" invention overcomes such difficulties.

The chief feature .of the invention consists in utilizing fiat metal strips, flexible and resilient, on the upper and lowersidesof said structure and extending at right angles to each other.

Another feature of the invention consists in the combination of said flat metal strips with end coils of the spiral springs so that the parts may be quickly assembled or taken apart and when together will form a secure structure and one free from noise.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims. j

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a chair seat. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the upper part of Fig. 2, parts being broken away. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the top of the device shown in modified form. Fig.6 is a perspectiveview of a portion of the device showing another modified form. i I Y There is shown herein in-the drawings a series of bottom" metal bars -l0adapted to be secured to the framework of a 'chair or other structure and it is formed in cross section, as shown'in Figs 2, consisting of a sheet of metal with -the lateral edges curved up to form loops for holding the lower coil:of aspiralspring 11. Upon said spiral 1 springs two series of fiat springmetal strips .18 and llare secured. :The strips 13, which are relatively wide, may be considered marginal strips inasmuch as they engage only the margin of the upper coil ofrthe spiral spring, while the narrow flat metal strips 14 extend diametrically across the uppergcoils of the springs, and both classes of strips are looped. or otherwise secured to the border wire 15 of the structure. The wide metal strips 13 are depressed to form loops l7 therein which have a central and longitudi nal slot 18 so-that the loop of the flat metal strip may fit astride the upper coilof the spring and project below thesame. The narrow metal strip 1A is inserted 'crosswis at arright angle to such wide metal strip between said loop and the wire so that both strips will be interlocked with the wire spring.

The construction is readily'assembled as the wide metal strips are first placedupon the upper coils ofthe springs, one strip on each side of the spring so that the upper coil of each springhas lying on it 'andtangentia-lly of it four strips 13 at right angles to each other, excepting that where the springs are adjacent the border wire 15 they are secured directly to it. Two strips 14 extend diametrically across the end of each spring at a right angle to each other so that there is one of said strips 14 extending diametrically across each row of springs.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914;

It is obvious that the foregoing construe-y tion provides a flat surface on top for receiving the uphols'tering, and, therefore, it will not cut or wear the same very rapidly.

The stripsare flexible and, therefore, a part of the structure .Will yield to pressure without affecting the whole surface. combination of the .two classes of strips withthe springs is very strongand permanent and practically free from noise. F urthermore, the parts can be very rapidly assembled as the strips 18 are merely laid Also the down upon the springs and the other strips pushed through endwi'se between theend coil of the spring and" the--loop in thestrips 13. V

A modified form is shown in Fig. 5, which omits the cross bars 14 and locates the strips 13 so that 'they diametrically cross the tops of the springs and the upper coil 11 of the spring extends transversely. of the strip 13 through the loop 17 thereof instead of longitudinally, as in Fig. 1, and the parts are locked by a wire 20 extending under and longitudinally of each strip 13 and passing through the slot 18 over the coils. I 7

Another modified form is shown in Fig. 6, where there are no strips diametrically crossing the top of the springs and the strips 14 areomitted and the strips 13 are left at the margins of the springs, as shown in Fig. 1, and are locked to the top coil of the spring by a clasp 21. The loop 17 in this form is slotted the same as in the other forms and the top coil of the spring is kept from' escaping by the clasp 21. This construction particularly by reason of the resilient fiat metalstrips enables one torbuild a wire construction such as a chair seat with any desired form of surface, such as making the central part of the chair seat somewhat higher than the margins. All that is necessary is to have the central spring somewhat higher than thesurround ing marginal springs, for the flexible flat metal strips will conform without difliculty to the various heights of the springs. This result of the invention is important because it dispenses with considerable upholstering material. r

The invention claimed is:

1'. A wire spring construction consisting of a series of spiral springs, two series 0t fiat metal strips extending transversely of Copies oi this patent insy be obtained tor metrically across the end coils of the spr1ngs,andmeans for securing said strips to the springs at the points where they engage andcross the same, substantially'as set 2. A wire spring construction consisting of a series of spiral springs, fiat metal strips extending transversely of each other andiprovided at intervals with slotted loops inwhich the end coils. of the wire springs are adapted to lie, and means for securing said :fiat strip'sto said end coils in thewire springs I 3. A wire spring construction consisting of a series of spiral springs, fiat metal strips extending transversely at intervals with and tangentially of the end coils of the springs and provided with loops longitudinally slotted to receive in said slots the end coils of the springs, and means for secur ingthe strips to said end coils of the springs.

4. A wire spring construction consisting of a series of spiral springs, a borderwire secured to said springs, flat metal strips extending transversely of each other and lying upon the endcoils of the spiral springs and having loops therein longitudinally slotted so that the loops vfit astride the end coils-0t the spiral springs, and other metal strips extending transverselyv of each other and diametrically of. the end coils of the springs and between said end coils and the loops in the first-mentioned metal strips. 1 In witness whereof, Ihave hereunto af-f fixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named. I

FREDERICK T. BARBER.

Witnesses: i

JULIA H. WELLS, O. M. MCLAUGHLIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents, 7 Washington, D. 0." v 

